Classic Poem

The evening and the morning have joined in fight at last,
Around the Western islands the Old shall fight the New;
Columbia and Hispania, the Present and the Past,
And Eighteen Hundred and Ninety-eight fights Fifteen Sixty-two.

The Nation of the Forward Look that sees the heights ahead
Fights with the Backward Glancing Realm that sees the tombs behind.
And who shall doubt the conflict of the Quick and of the Dead,
Of the Leaders with the Laggards of Mankind?

To-day joins fight with Yesterday; the mediæval years
Are grappling with the Modern, and the Old assails the New.
But who, who fears the issue? Where's the trembling soul that fears
When Eighteen Hundred and Ninety-eight fights Fifteen Sixty-two?